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Issue: Mad #48
Publication Date: July 1959
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Disclose Detail
Issues: #48 of 550 Issues (622 Printings)
Title:
Variant: unnamed
Rating:
Publisher: FlagEC
Brand:
Indicia Publisher: E.C. Publications Inc.
On Sale Date: 1959
Volume: 1
Pages: 52
ISBN: none
UPC/EAN: none
Price: $0.25 USD
Indicia Frequency:
Content Items: 28 (16 stories, 1 cover)
Editor(s):  
Disclose Notes:  
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Disclose Format
Publication Type: Comic Book
Color: color (#1-23, 400-550); color cover with black & white interior (#24-399)
Dimensions: standard Golden Age US (#1-23); magazine size (#24 onward)
Paper Stock: glossy cover
Binding: saddle-stitched
Publishing Format: Was Ongoing Series
Format Notes:  
Disclose Reprinted In6
Disclose Reprinted From0
There is currently no data for this Issue being reprinted from anywhere.
Disclose Images1
Cover, Front
Original Artwork
Digital Edition
Adult Image
Title Page
Indicia on this Page
 
 
Assets0
 
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Disclose Content Items (28 total)
Disclose Issue Images
I Want You

Illustration  on  Cover, Front
Credits
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Genres: humorous
Character(s): Alfred E. Neuman; Uncle Sam
Reprinting
In Content Item: FlagMad about the Fifties #[nn] [Standard Edition] published January 1997
as Mad magazine covers [Cover Reprint (on Interior Page) on Interior Page(s)]
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 1
Disclose
Awaysis Takes You Away from the Everyday!

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Writer(s): ?
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Genres: humorous
Feature(s): Awaysis Cigarettes
Synopsis: Parody of an advertisement for Oasis cigarettes.
Reprinting
In Content Item: FlagMad about the Fifties #[nn] [Standard Edition] published January 1997
as Mad ad: Awaysis Cigarettes [Story on Interior Page(s)]from insider front cover
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 1
Disclose Notes: Inside front cover.
Disclose
Departments

Foreword, Introduction, Preface, Afterword  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Writer(s): ?
Penciller(s): various
Inker(s): various
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Feature(s): Vital Features
Reprinting
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 1
Disclose Notes: Art is excerpts from this issue. There is a writer credit for Gary Belkin and Bill Dixon, but uncertain what article(s) it is for.
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A Revolutionary New Idea in Casual Wear

Promotional Material (from Publisher)  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Writer(s): ?
Penciller(s): ? (photo)
Inker(s): ? (photo)
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Genres: humorous
Feature(s): Mad Straight Jacket
Character(s): Leonard Brenner
Synopsis: House advertisement for fake straitjacket.
Reprinting
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 0.33
Disclose Notes: Leonard is the model with back turned to the reader; named in letters column of Mad #49.
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Books That Can Do What They Look Like They Can Do

Promotional Material (from Publisher)  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Writer(s): ?
Penciller(s): ? (photo)
Inker(s): ? (photo)
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Feature(s): The Bedside Mad
Synopsis: House advertisement for the sixth Mad paperback book.
Reprinting
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 0.17
Disclose
Random Samplings of Reader Mail

Letters Page  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Penciller(s): ? (photo)
Inker(s): ? (photo)
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Character(s): George A. Orndorff; Seward McCain; Brett Maverick
Synopsis: Letters of comment, mostly about issue #46. Barbara Forrester suggests that Alfred's girlfriend be named Moxie Cowznofsky, and the editor agrees. Letters from: Merwyn Nelson, Josh Zerlin, Jack Marin, Alan Peikin, Charles Allen, Joseph Lipari, Tommy LeClair, Ken Luciani, Russ Durham, Howard Arnberg, David Colton, Seward McCain, Jim Fautus, Wayne Montgomery, Jarl Johansson, and Barbara Forrester.
Reprinting
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 1
Disclose
Have Mad Mailed to Your Home

Promotional Material (from Publisher)  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Writer(s): ?
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Feature(s): Mad Magazine
Synopsis: House advertisement for Mad subscriptions.
Reprinting
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 0.17
Disclose
You'll Have a Million Laughs

Promotional Material (from Publisher)  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Writer(s): ?
Penciller(s): ? (photo)
Inker(s): ? (photo)
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Genres: humorous
Feature(s): Musically Mad
Character(s): Alfred E. Neuman
Synopsis: House advertisement for the first Mad record album, from RCA Victor.
Reprinting
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 0.33
Disclose
Comic Strip Heroes (Taken from Real Life)

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Genres: humorous
Character(s): Conrad Hilton; Werner Von Braun; Queen Elizabeth II; Prince Philip; Prince Charles; Hymie Rickover; Richard Nixon; Pat Nixon; Gamal Abdel Nasser; Nikita Krushchev; Mrs. Krushchev; Alfred E. Neuman; Jimmy Hoffa; Charles DeGaulle; Hubert Humphrey; Adlai Stevenson; Harry Truman; General Douglas MacArthur; Li'l Abner (cameo); Daisy Mae (cameo); Snuffy Smith (cameo); Snuffy's wife (cameo); Kayo Mullins (cameo); Moon Mullins (cameo); Steve Canyon (cameo); Alley Oop (cameo); Beetle Bailey (cameo); Killer (cameo); Pogo (cameo); Howland Owl (cameo); Lucy Van Pelt (cameo); Charlie Brown (cameo)
Synopsis: Comic strips about currently famous people, in styles similar to current comic strips.
Reprinting
In Content Item: FlagMad about the Fifties #[nn] [Standard Edition] published January 1997
as Comic Strip Heroes (Taken From Real Life) [Story on Interior Page(s)]
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 4
Disclose Notes: Writer credit from "Totally MAD" CD collection.

The portion of this story involving the British Royal Family was the subject of an article critical of it in the British tabloid newspaper, Sunday Pictorial (Mirror Group, 1915 series) May 31, 1959, "A Stupid Insult". Geraldine House and editor L. A. Lee Howard of the Sunday Pictorial sent a copy of the offending page and a letter protesting the story to F. Bowen Evans, the Acting Public Affairs Officer at the American Embassy in London. In particular, they wrote that a number of their readers had already voiced their displeasure over the story and hope that future plans to distribute Mad magazine in Great Britain would not happen.

Evans contacted the Department of State offices in Washington, D.C., and inquired if the U.S. Government could take any action towards Mad magazine. By July 1959, the State Department replied back to Evans that no legal action could be taken against the magazine or publisher. They did suggest that the British Board of Trade could deny Mad a license for distribution in Great Britain. The agency also decided not to contact E.C. regarding this matter as it was determined to be inappropriate. Lastly, it was also pointed out that then-Vice President Richard M. Nixon was also subject of the satire in that issue as well.

The State Department advised that continuing to make an issue out of the matter "would likely add more grist to the mill of this dispute."

Sunday Pictorial is now known as the Sunday Mirror newspaper.

Source: U.S. Embassy London to Department of State, Despatch 2914, June 5, 1959, and Department of State to U.S. Embassy London, Instruction A-53, July 21, 1959, both from file 911.63/6-559, 1955-59 Central Decimal File (NAID 302021), RG 59: General Records of the Department of State. and The Text Message,“'A Stupid Insult:' MAD Magazine and the British Royal Family, 1959" by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland via https://text-message.blogs.archives.gov/2021/04/27/mad-magazine-and-the-british-royal-family-1959/.
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Little Known Organizations

Text Article  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Genres: humorous
Synopsis: Advertisements for organizations that would oppose actual organizations, such as Alcoholics Unanimous, and Committee To Encourage Juvenile Delinquency.
Reprinting
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 3
Disclose Notes: Writer credit from "Totally MAD" CD collection.
Disclose
Skin Diving

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Genres: humorous
Synopsis: Problems with skin diving, new developments, and the ultimate return of man to the sea.
Reprinting
In Content Item: FlagDave Berg's Mad Trash #[nn] published January 1981
as Skin Diving [Story on Interior Page(s)]
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 3
Disclose
The Cavemen

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Genres: humorous
Synopsis: A cavewoman who is resistant to being clobbered on the head falls for a man with an unusual approach.
Reprinting
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 2
Disclose
For the Life of Progress Hornsby

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Genres: humorous
Character(s): Sid Caesar; Ed Ralphwards; Progress Hornsby; Euphoria Hornsby; Bosley Mandiville; Shorty Bubble; Doornet Jaguar; One-Stick Haverstraw; Particular Frosty; 7892-450-37
Synopsis: Progress appears on the tv show "For the Life of You", a parody of "This Is Your Life."
Reprinting
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 4
Disclose
Bridge: The Aristocrat of Card Games

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Genres: humorous
Character(s): Charles Groan
Synopsis: Defines common bridge terms, gives advice and shows the pitfalls of playing bridge. Includes a phony newspaper bridge column.
Reprinting
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 3
Disclose Notes: Writer credit from "Totally Mad" CD collection.
Disclose
The Old Salt

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Genres: humorous
Synopsis: A man delicately solves the problem of his parrot going to the bathroom in his shirt.
Reprinting
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 1
Disclose
The Daily Optimist

Text Article  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Genres: humorous
Feature(s): On the Sunny Side of the Sheet Dept.
Character(s): Bosley Skagg; Penelope Skagg; T. Finster Moody; Felix Farquahr; Lydia Farquahr; Ethel Frong; Herman Frong; Philo Fosdick; Weldon Wembley; Hector Sedgewick; Tommy Goober; Glenn Pladde; Fenwick Gribble
Synopsis: Sample of a newspaper that prints all news with a positive spin...no matter how bad the news is.
Reprinting
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 2
Disclose Notes: Writer credit from "Totally MAD" CD collection.
Disclose
On-the-Job Marching Songs

Text Article  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Genres: humorous
Feature(s): 4/4 Time-and-a-Half Dept.
Synopsis: Spirit and loyalty building songs for various industries' employees, set to familiar melodies.
Reprinting
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 3
Disclose
The Night That Perry Masonmint Lost a Case

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Genres: humorous
Character(s): Perry Masonmint; Lieutenant Drag; District Attorney Burgerbits; Judge Sam; Paul Dreck; Della Sweet; Harry Townes; Emil Freebish
Synopsis: Perry finally loses a case, because he only wins on Saturday nights.
Reprinting
In Content Item: FlagMad about the Fifties #[nn] [Standard Edition] published January 1997
as The Night That Perry Masonmint Lost a Case [Story on Interior Page(s)]
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 4
Disclose Notes: A parody of the Perry Mason TV show. Writer credit from "Totally MAD" CD collection.
Disclose
Future "Confession" Books

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Genres: humorous
Feature(s): Confession Is Good for the Sale Dept.
Character(s): Perry Como; Eleanor Roosevelt; Dizzy Gillespie; Oscar Levant; Alfred E. Neuman; Jack Paar
Synopsis: Future celebrity confession books.
Reprinting
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 1
Disclose
How You Look to Other People

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Genres: humorous
Character(s): Alfred E. Neuman
Synopsis: How you might look to people you deal with daily, based on your value to them.
Reprinting
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 2
Disclose
How a Television Script Is Born

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Genres: humorous
Synopsis: Follows a script from the original author through various rewrites, showing how all the meaning and creativity is gradually watered down.
Reprinting
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 4
Disclose Notes: Writer credit from "Totally Mad" CD collection.
Disclose
Graduation Speeches... That Somebody Listened To

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Genres: humorous
Feature(s): Summa cum Louder Dept.
Character(s): Jack Benny; Steve Allen; Ed Sullivan; Dick Clark; Richard Nixon; Fidel Castro
Synopsis: Possible graduation speeches that could have helped form the philosophies of some celebrities.
Reprinting
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 2
Disclose Notes: Writer credit from "Totally Mad" CD collection.
Disclose
Insurance Policies for Teen-agers

Text Article  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Genres: humorous
Synopsis: Ideas for insurance policies against common hazards of teen-agers, such as blind dates and flunking school.
Reprinting
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 2
Disclose Notes: Writer credit from "Totally MAD" CD collection.
Disclose
Miracle Fabrics

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Genres: humorous
Synopsis: The good and bad points of modern synthetic fabrics.
Reprinting
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 4
Disclose Notes: Writer credit from "Totally MAD" CD collection.
Disclose
How To Play Croquet

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Genres: humorous
Synopsis: An unusual way to play the ball when it lands in a kid's mouth.
Reprinting
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 1
Disclose
Who Says Lightning Never Strike Twice in the Same Place?

Promotional Material (from Publisher)  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Writer(s): ?
Penciller(s): ? (photo)
Inker(s): ? (photo)
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Genres: humorous
Feature(s): Mad Forever
Character(s): Alfred E. Neuman
Synopsis: House advertisement for the hardcover book from Crown Publishers.
Reprinting
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 1
Disclose Notes: Inside back cover.

Wally Wood's credit is for a small image of Alfred at bottom of the page.
Disclose
News Stars for Old Movies

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Writer(s): ?
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Genres: humorous
Synopsis: Casting ideas for remakes of old movies.
Reprinting
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 0
Disclose Notes: The cartoons for this sequence appear in the margins of 24 pages of the issue.
Disclose
Great Moments in Medicine

Story  on  Interior Page(s)
Credits
Writer(s): ?
Letterer(s): typeset
Subject Matter
Genres: humorous
Feature(s): Park-David
Synopsis: Parody of Parke-Davis Pharmaceutical Company advertisements.
Reprinting
In Content Item: FlagMad about the Fifties #[nn] [Standard Edition] published January 1997
as Mad ad: Park-David [Story on Interior Page(s)]back cover
Reprint Notes:  
Miscellaneous
Pages: 1
Disclose Notes: Back cover.

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